Chapter 4 - THE MESSAGE FROM THE BANK
The newly married couple walked down the aisle beneath falling rose petals.
Guests cheered.
Cameras flashed.
Olivia smiled as though she had just stepped into the happiest moment of her life.
Daniel smiled too.
Only Noah understood that both expressions were performances.
Outside the chapel, the wedding party gathered for photographs.
Olivia kept one hand locked around Daniel’s arm.
“You’re behaving strangely.”
“I just married the woman who threatened my sister.”
“You married the woman who can save her.”
Daniel looked toward Emma.
She was laughing with her son, Caleb, near the fountain.
“Where is the evidence?”
“Safe.”
“Who created it?”
Olivia’s smile tightened.
“You don’t need to know.”
“I’m your husband now.”
“Exactly.”
She moved closer.
“Which means you should learn when to stop asking questions.”
The photographer called them toward the garden.
Daniel used the distraction to step beside Noah.
“Talk to me.”
Noah opened his phone.
“There was a transfer.”
Daniel’s stomach tightened.
“From the foundation?”
“Two million dollars moved three days ago.”
“Using Emma’s login?”
“Yes.”
Daniel looked toward his sister again.
“Where did the money go?”
“The account is registered to a shell company in the Cayman Islands.”
“Can you trace the owner?”
“I’m working on it.”
Noah lowered his voice.
“There’s something else.”
He showed Daniel a security notification from the Bennett Foundation.
Someone had accessed the building’s main server ten minutes earlier.
A package of documents had been sent to the office of the United States Attorney.
Olivia had prepared an automatic release.
Daniel looked across the lawn.
She was posing beside her father.
Senator Mercer placed a hand on her shoulder and whispered something into her ear.
Olivia glanced toward Daniel.
The exchange lasted only seconds.
It was enough.
“You think her father is involved?” Noah asked.
“I think he knows more than he should.”
A text message appeared on Daniel’s phone.
It came from an unknown number.
Congratulations on the wedding.
Keep your wife happy, or your sister loses everything.
A photograph followed.
It showed Emma inside the foundation office on the night of the transfer.
She was standing beside the restricted computer.
The timestamp placed her there at 11:42 p.m.
Daniel remembered that night.
Emma had told him she was home with Caleb.
He walked toward her before he could stop himself.
Emma saw his expression and immediately sent her son to join the other children.
“What’s wrong?”
“Where were you three nights ago?”
“At home.”
“Think carefully.”
Emma’s face changed.
“I was at the foundation.”
Daniel felt the ground shift beneath him.
“Why did you lie?”
May you like
Tears appeared in her eyes.
“Because Olivia asked me to.”
